Tonight begins a rare, often-talked-about but typically-unseen five-game series against the New York Mets, including a double-header on Tuesday to help make one's Tuesday even more worthless than usual. After a decent start, the team has slowly come apart at the seams, culminating in a 3-9 record during the month of June. There isn't much to cheer about as a Mets' fan, but one positive to take away from a wretched few months of baseball has been the emergence of Matt Harvey, who the Braves will get their first look at in game one of tomorrow's double-header. Harvey has come back to earth after his torrid start, but he is one of only a handful of reasons people are watching this team at all. Another justification for masochistic New Yorkers to tune in is native-Georgite Zach Wheeler, who makes his much-anticipated debut tomorrow night in game two of the split. Between Harvey and Wheeler, the Mets have two of the league's most promising young arms, and it's frightening to think just how good this team could be had they been managed properly these past few years. Oh, and that Madoff guy didn't help matters either. While they seem to be righting the ship financially, they have roughly infinityjillion dollars (actually, closer to ~$600M) in loans coming due in 2015, so we should be able to enjoy their struggles for a few more seasons.
Brandon Beachy, who was set to return tomorrow, will not pitch in the series and it is unclear when he will make his 2013 debut having experiencing elbow soreness after his rehab start for Gwinnett. While this is certainly not the news anyone had hoped to hear, an MRI has shown no structural damage in his surgically repaired elbow. As it stands right now, one can still expect Beachy to pitch for the team this season, but it would not be surprising to see him start a few more games in the minors to help assuage any doubts about his durability. The Braves are fortunate enough to be in a position to not need him right now, so this all this really does is delay the reconciliation of an issue that is a good problem to have.
Alex Wood, he of the 1890's-esque pitching style, will make his first start tomorrow against Matt Harvey. While it's too soon to say whether or not Wood is a candidate for a spot in next year's rotation, that is a topic to keep an eye on. Maholm and Hudson are both free-agents after 2013, and there is a distinct possibility that one or both may not return next season. Outside of the trade for Maholm at last year's deadline, the Braves have shown a propensity to fill these positions with in-house candidates, and while Wood's mechanics may scream "RELIEVER!", it would not be far-fetched to think the Braves' front office views him as a potential candidate, albeit likely a tentative one at this early stage.
From Dave O'Brien, Andrelton Simmons has the NL's lowest OBP from the leadoff spot at .249. That's exceptionally bad production, and keep in mind that he is getting more at-bats than anyone on the team, and will continue to do so until he is moved. One might think that day is coming sooner rather than later, but then again, one might have thought that two weeks ago.
Finally, a certain player has had quite the June. His OBP is .377, his ISO is .240, his BB% is 18.5%, his wOBA is .388, and his wRC+ is 151, all with a BABIP of .214. His name? BJ Upton. Yet another reminder of why large sets of data can't be dismissed in the face of a six-week slump.
Series matchups:
Monday, 7:10 (local broadcast)
Dillon Gee v. Tim Hudson
Tuesday, 1:10 (local broadcast)
Matt Harvey v. Alex Wood
Tuesday, 7:10 (local broadcast)
Zach Wheeler v. Paul Maholm
Wednesday, 7:10 (local broadcast)
Shaun Marcum v. Kris Medlen
Thursday, 7:10 (local broadcast)
Jonathan Niese v. Mike Minor
Tonight's lineup:
Simmons (sigh)
Heyward
Justin
Freeman
White Bear, The Legend of
BJ
Uggla
Johnson
(All non-superfluous information courtesy of FanGraphs, NBC Sports, ESPN, and Capital New York)
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